Some Observations on James Franco's Serial Killer Poems

James Franco, known for his stunning ability to make bread look terrifying (see above), just published a series of poems in Vice inspired by the serial killer, Richard Ramirez. Lately, the actor/etc. has been preoccupied with the idea of celebrity worship and his forthcoming book of "stories, pictures and poems" is titled Hollywood Dreaming. So it's fitting, but no less creepy, that Franco would develop a curious predilection for prolific killers, who, like celebrities, have fanatic followings of their own.

In the introduction to his Ramirez inspired poems, Franco writes, "These poems are an attempt to fuse Ramirez's life with lessons from my youth, when TV shows taught me what love and the good life looked like, and then I felt disappointment when my own love life didn't conform to these models. The feelings of a rejected or shy or insecure young man can be intense. They can provoke frightening emotions that feel as intense as murder."

In his own special way, James Franco might actually be tapping into something really important about depictions of women in pop culture that are presented to young men; there's a reason why this Columbia student has vowed to carry her mattress everywhere, to no avail. And it wasn't so long ago that Elliot Rodger wrote, "Start envisioning a world where WOMEN FEAR YOU," on a site dedicated to treating women as targets, before acting out on that threat.

Now more than ever, there seems to finally be a sense of what can happen when men feel entitled (and that entitlement is culturally reinforced) to something that was never theirs. The "Night Stalker" ended up on the extreme end of the violence spectrum, but (possibly?) Franco knows he is somewhere along that spectrum too. Franco adds, "I am trying to aestheticize extreme emotion -- not to celebrate a killer like Ramirez in any way, but to break from the normal forms of representation that are part of the problem in the first place, like movies, books, songs, and TV shows."

Okay! Now lets see how these murdery male poems ("Black Death," "California Legend," "Like A Virus," "Satan Out of His Shell") measure up to their hefty claims:

1. Black Death

If we're sticking to the story that James Franco is one of the genius writers of our time, then this poem is pretty effective in embodying Ramirez's hatred of women and what was probably a constant state of perceived emasculation. If we're not, then this poem is just really bad beat poet impression.

Funniest line that's probably not supposed to be funny: I once was a robber, now I'm a robber / Of souls.

2. California Legend

This poem is a really nice summary of Richard Ramirez's Wikipedia page.

Funniest line that's probably not supposed to be funny: There is nothing cool about murder.

3. Like A Virus

We really like Franco's casual abbreviation of "minute" to "min" in this poem (Think about the darkness a min). And yeah, fuck that guy who shot Lennon.

Funniest line that's probably not supposed to be funny: Don't use these poems faces, / Use these poems like equations / In Math

4. Satan Out of His Shell

Okay, let's take this one seriously because, in our humble opinion, this is by far the best poem of the set -- although that might not be saying much. Franco starts the poem with "The capture of Ramirez was comic and just" and proceeds with the detached tone of an observant story teller. Franco's poetry works best when he's not trying to sound like a Serious Poet. We also like his literary use of "bro."

A metaphor we actually liked: First across the highway / His old vein of death


But don't just take our word for it. Do you own Franco-deconstruction and read the poems in full over at Vice.